


The Need To Feel The Wind

by lilolilyrae



Series: Just You And Me - Until The End. [13]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Car Sex, Cars, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, Fast Cars, Fluff and Smut, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Immortal family, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Quynh | Noriko-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:41:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28414794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilolilyrae/pseuds/lilolilyrae
Summary: How does Quỳnh deal with cars, which are essentially nothing but fast little metal boxes, after being stuck in the iron coffin for so long?Not very well. Thankfully, Andromache finds a solution.Can be read as a standalone!
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Series: Just You And Me - Until The End. [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980067
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	The Need To Feel The Wind

**Author's Note:**

> Alternative title: 'Seeing Red'.
> 
> PSA: Please do not engage in illegal car races. Also please use your seatbelts, you're not immortal.

"Let's go for a race," Andy decides one afternoon as the team is sitting around the table in their newest little safehouse in France, an old, abandoned farmhouse in the south of the country.

Nile looks up in interest, and Quỳnh raises an eyebrow. “A race?”

Andromache looks at her and her entire face lights up. “Right, you’ve never been on one before! Oh, you are going to love this!” She turns to the men. “You in?”

Yusuf laughs. “With what cars? Are you going to destroy the ‘rover? You do know we need that to get out of here at some point, or do you plan to walk to the airport or the coast?”

“We could hitch-hike, or walk to the next farm and steal something,” Andy says with a shrug. “But fine! We’ll take the jeep into town and buy new ones, then.” She looks from one to the other like this is a great idea.

“Do you plan to spend our entire earnings from the last jobs on new cars?” Nile asks, looking unconvinced.

“Were you planning to spend it on anything else?” Andromache laughs.

Meanwhile, Quỳnh stares at her as if she has gone insane, then quickly reigns in her reaction. So apparently, the others don’t just tolerate cars the way she had thought.

They _like_ them, even Nico- who is trying to argue that there might still be tourists this season and they really shouldn’t risk crashing into those- still states a preference for which brand of fast car he wants to buy.

Andromache wants to ride in cars just for the fun of it, wants to make the four-hour trip into the next bigger city for no good reason other than to buy _more_ cars and spend the entire next day in them?

The thing is,

The _thing_ is, Quỳnh does _not_ like cars.

Planes and trains are bad enough, with the rumbling and the not being in control and the being locked in there until it lands or reaches the next stop, but at least they are bigger than cars, giving her room to breathe, and travelling in them is much more manageable. Quỳnh isn’t fond of the cold darkness of the subway, either, but at least there she can move around, and focus on the lights and the people.

Cars, though? Cars are small, _tiny_ metal boxes that move themselves, and while Quỳnh knows that she would survive a crash, she is terrified of ending up stuck in one, and a google search on how people do get stuck in them after crashes had not helped matters at all. She also doesn’t know how to drive, so she has to rely on someone else to safely get her to her destination. It's not so bad when it is Andromache behind the wheel, but other than her...

And then there’s the fact that sometimes, when she sits in a car, it feels as if the ceiling was coming closer and closer, as if the seatbelt was strangling her, the air sucked out of the box and she is left with nothing, with darkness-

No logic can push away a panic attack in response to her trauma.

So far, Quỳnh has managed to avoid the topic with Andromache and the others. Because really, it’s a stupid issue. They’re just cars, they’re everywhere these days, just a means to an end, transportation, nothing more. So what if she doesn’t quite like them? She was sure many others felt the same. No-one could possibly _enjoy_ being stuck in a fast metal box, now could they?

Except, apparently, just that is the case, at least in the rest of her family… and Quỳnh finds herself going into a silent panic attack at the thought of buying a car that will probably be even faster and smaller than the ones they had used to get to their destinations in the past.

“Andromache,” she presses out, interrupting the others’ conversation, “Can I speak with you for a moment?”

Andy blinks. “Sure?”

Seeing Quỳnh’s distress, she quickly leads her outside onto the porch knowing that she likes to have the sky above her when she isn’t feeling well.

“What is it, love?”

Quỳnh takes a deep breath. “I- I don’t like cars.”

It comes out shakier than expected, and Andromache takes one look at her before pulling her into her arms, gently stroking the back of her head.

"Fuck, Quỳnh, I should have thought of that! Why didn't you _say_ anything? You've _been_ in cars, we've been in cars together-"

"And I clearly _managed!_ " Quỳnh shouts, pulling back.

Andromache stares at her, looking so hurt that Quỳnh immediately regrets getting loud, but what Andy says next tells her that she is not hurt by her, but hurting _for_ her:

"Quỳnh- Quỳnh, my love, you know you don't have to endure it, you don't _have_ to-"

Quỳnh presses the balls of her thumbs against her eyes so she doesn't have to look at Andromache's pained expression anymore.

"I do have to, it's the twenty-first century! I have to get used to it, I have to learn how to drive- It doesn't mean I have to do it for sport, for fun." She acknowledges.

Andromache nods. "Not when it clearly wouldn't be _fun_ for you at all."

Quỳnh nods, not looking up at her. Gods, how she hates being so weak, so broken by what had happened to her.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she sees Andy’s hand lifting to her, stroking across the skin of her arm, making her shudder- and then, Andy's arms are around her, and Quỳnh sobs as she presses her face against her neck.

“Shh-hh,” Andy murmurs. “You won’t ever have to be in a car or anything like it ever again, I promise. We’ll figure something out if need be, there are still other things than cars.”

Quỳnh shakes her head. “I can stand it.” She stubbornly refuses the out Andromache has offered her. “I will learn to. Just-“

Andy nods, not pressuring her any further on the issue. She knows how proud Quỳnh can be, that she wouldn’t want to indulge what she sees as such a weakness.

For a while, they simply hold each other, Andy’s hand stroking over her head and back until Quỳnh calms a little.

Finally, Andy speaks again. “...what exactly don't you like about cars?” she asks, sounding contemplative.

Quỳnh blinks. She thinks that would have been obvious, but as she starts to talk, she notices how it really isn’t.

“You know… it reminds me of the coffin, being so closed in… and- and not in control, because I still can’t drive… though it’s better when it’s you,” she mumbles into Andromache’s skin.

“the ceiling’s always too close, even in the ‘rover, it makes me feel so small, so locked in, and I hate the seatbelts, it’s like it’s making it hard to breathe even though it really doesn’t, but it just makes the panic worse? I _hate_ it, I hate that I hate it-” Quỳnh takes a deep breath, shaking her head and deflating against Andromache’s strong body.

Andy thinks about all of it for a moment, squeezing Quỳnh tightly in her arms before pulling back but still holding onto her arms.

“Mmhm. I think I have an idea, but we’ll see. Will you be alright here tomorrow with one of the others while I go car shopping? I need to take at least two others so we can drive enough cars back.”

“I’ll be fine,” Quỳnh smiles. “You all go, I’m sure Nile also wants a new… car… and you know Joe and Nicky don’t want to be apart after the last mission.”

“Mmm” Andy nods and throws an arm over her shoulders, pulling her close as they walk back inside. “You know, I don’t want to leave you either…”

“Neither of us died yesterday,” Quỳnh laughs and pokes Andy in the ribs. Then she sighs.

“Really, I will be alright. You do whatever it is you think you need to do.” She adds more seriously.

* * *

On the next day, Andromache drives the others into the city in the Jeep, though not before thoroughly kissing Quỳnh goodbye.

With a smile, she watches the car disappear around the next sharp corner, then turning around to look for a book to take outside with her.

The second Lord of The Rings paperback in hands, she makes her way to the old oak tree on the corner of the property, sitting down in the shadow to read.

A few hours later, Quỳnh blinks herself awake to find the sun shining into her face, probably what woke her. She must have fallen asleep- not because the book wasn’t interesting, it’s quickly turning into one of her favourites with all the interesting creatures, songs, jokes and twists in the storyline, but she hadn’t slept well at night after all that talk about cars, and her spot in the grass now is so comfortable… It always feels better to be outside, especially far away from any sounds of technology.

Carefully closing the book in her hands, she gets to her feet, standing in the sunlight for a moment and enjoying the warmth on her face, before she makes her way back to the house to get something to eat.

Once she finishes her meal, she doesn’t have to wait long until she hears the tell-tale roaring of approaching cars, and she sees four cars pull into the large driveway. First is a low red car with a funny black roof, then a black as well as a blue sports car, and finally Yusuf driving the Jeep.

Andy gets out of the red monstrosity. Well, the car certainly looks pretty, but the thought of being locked in in…

Quỳnh raises eyebrow as she walks over to her. “That’s what you thought would be a good solution? Making the car ceiling even further down?” She calls out to Andromache, who looks up with a laugh and shuts the door behind herself with a bang.

“Watch this!”

Fumbling with something at the side of the roof, she struggles with a mechanism for a while before- “A-ha!”- the roof slides back, revealing the car’s interior.

“What on…” now, Quỳnh really is curious, and she comes closer to get a better look. Andy lets her through, nervously shifting from one foot to the other as Quỳnh looks at the car.

“It's a convertible," Andromache explains. "I’m not sure whether this will work for you, and you don’t ever need to use it if you don’t like it, but I thought-“

“It’s perfect!” Quỳnh interrupts her, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

* * *

Not ready for a race yet, Quỳnh waits with Andromache until the others have departed in their sports cars, Nicky driving the blue one with Joe in the passenger seat and Nile alone in the black car. There is a lot of talk about the cars’ brands, their speed and manoeuvrability before they departed, but Quỳnh was too busy bouncing on her toes in anticipation to listen.

She is going to ride in a car, but an open one, she might actually enjoy this!

When they finally get into the convertible and Quỳnh wants to buckle into the passenger seat, Andy shakes her head at her and slaps back the seatbelt. “Not like we need them, do we? And I’ll go slow for now.”

Quỳnh beams at her.

Andromache starts the engine, and Quỳnh waits for the terrible feeling of being trapped to overcome her, but while she finds that she still doesn’t like the sound of it all, she also doesn’t feel terrified in this.

Letting the car roll down the driveway, Andy then lets them gain speed, and Quỳnh’s mouth stands open as the trees fly past them and they turn around the first corner.

“Go faster!”

She feels so _free_ , the wind blowing her hair out of her face and making her eyes tear a little, but she doesn’t care.

Now, Quỳnh finally understands why Andromache had thought that she would enjoy it.

It’s like riding on a horse, but different- and while she would still prefer the companionship to an animal to the machine, right now, the car is _better_ because they are going so fast,

Whooping, she turns to Andromache, laughing in delight and pressing a kiss to her cheek. Andy doesn’t turn to her, keeping her eyes on the road- _keeping her safe_ , even though they would survive a crash, but she is grinning, too, happy about Quỳnh’s delight.

Once they reach a viewing point, Andy stops the car, so they look over the valley to the village on the other side in the distance.

Quỳnh takes a deep breath, trying to process what just happened, then laughs again in exhilarated, adrenaline-fueled delight.

She turns around and before she can say anything, Andromache closes the distance between them and smashes their lips together.

“Fuck, Quỳnh,” she growls against her lips. “I know we didn’t get far yet, and-“ she kisses her again- “I’m sorry, but do you have any idea what you _do_ to me?”

Quỳnh throws back her head and laughs, and Andromache starts to mouth at her neck, licking and sucking, showing Quỳnh just how desperate she is right now.

“Will this 'convertible' roll over the edge if you’re not at the steering wheel anymore?” she asks, feigning nonchalance.

“No, but-” Andy pulls on the handbrake- “Now it definitely can’t. Why?”

“Because then we can do this now…”

She pulls at Andromache’s arm to get her to move, struggling to make her way over the funny middle parts of the car and ending up half on top of her- it’s a tight fit, but then Andy pulls a lever and the seat slides further back, giving Quỳnh room to slip one of her arms in-between their bodies and under the waistband of Andy’s jeans.

Andy gasps at the contact. “We’re really doing this? Out here, in the middle of the day?”

“Have you turned into a prude since we last made love in the open?” Quỳnh chuckles. “Besides, there’s no-one here for miles.”

Her hand keeps stroking over the patch of pubic hair she can reach without opening Andromache’s trousers, and Andy whimpers, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, before quickly reaching down herself to pull down her jeans.

She is wet already and sobs when Quỳnh slips a finger inside of her, gathering her wetness and moving to her clit to rub her, hard. Andy is bracing herself with her hands against Quỳnh’s seat, her legs shaking as she tries to hold herself upright, knowing that Quỳnh won’t ease up until she makes her come.

Quỳnh rubs over her clit in circles, watching on mesmerized as Andromache slowly falls apart above her. When she knows that her love is getting close, she leans forward, pushes up Andy’s shirt with her free hand, then lightly tugs on her nipple with her teeth. It’s enough to push Andromache over the edge, collapsing on top of her with a moan of her name.

Holding her in her arms and rubbing soothing circles on her back, Quỳnh is aware but uncaring of the fact that they are making quite a mess, Andy’s wetness now on her own skirt where Andy is sitting on her lap as well as on Andromache’s back from Quỳnh’s hands. They will just have to wash their clothes once they get home, nothing easier than that in this new world.

When Andy stops shuddering through her aftershocks, Quỳnh gently brushes her hair out of her face and presses a kiss to her lips.

“Alright, my Anh?”

“More than,” Andy sighs, leaning her forehead against Quỳnh’s. “More than.”

* * *

“So, you liked the car so far?” Andromache asks once she is back in her own seat.

“It was almost better than riding into battle with you, my Anh!”

Andy laughs, “Really? Or do you just say that because of what happened next?”

Quỳnh snorts as Andy starts to drive backwards out of the viewing point. “Maybe! No, I do like this open car. I do wish we still had horses, though, but I could get used to this.”

“We could get a horse! Who’s saying we can’t?”

Quỳnh tilts her head. She hadn’t yet thought about it like that. “Why don’t you already have one, then? You always liked them even more than I did.”

“Where would I have kept it? I was always travelling from place to place, and not by horse. I- a horse would have been mine for the joy of it, and it’s not like I- it’s not like I had time for that.”

‘It’s not like I was feeling much joy while you were gone’ stays unsaid, but they both know she means it, and Quỳnh leans over to kiss Andy on the cheek, trying to supress a shiver as she remembers how badly Andromache had sometimes dealt while she had still been under the ocean.

“So, we are going to get a horse?” she turns the topic to brighter themes again.

“Two, at least! We just need to decide where.”

“Well, we can’t keep them in our flat.” Quỳnh says drily and sees Andromache smile at her use of the word ‘our’.

“Guess we are moving in somewhere new, then!” Andy smiles.

Quỳnh beams at her, and she would have said more, but in that moment her cell phone rings, and she quickly fishes it out of her pocket.

“It’s Nile.”, she tells Andy, and then “hello?”

“Copley called!” Nile shouts into her ear, making her flinch away from the phone for a moment, even though Nile herself was the one to initially tell Quỳnh that there is no need to talk louder on the phone than one usually would.

“He finally got a lead on the guy from Naples, we meet him in Italy tomorrow!” Nile tells her. “We’re on our way back to the safehouse now, are you there yet?”

“Almost,” Quỳnh tells her, recognizing the area. “See you there.”

Quỳnh sighs as she hangs up.

“Looks like the horses will have to wait, at least for a while.” She states while Andy pulls into the driveway.

Andy pouts at that, and Quỳnh understands her disappointment- but really, the anticipation for the future alone is enough to make her smile as she follows Andromache inside.

**Author's Note:**

> This actually takes place much earlier in the series, maybe early 2017, after they started going on missions again sometimes but before [Make Me Feel Alright](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27878022).  
> ...I should really sort through this mess of a series some time xD  
> Update: I put a guide to the chronological order of this in the [series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980067) notes now, if sb wants to re-read this in an order that makes more sense... xD
> 
> Come to my tumblr @lilolilyr for more Andromaquynh content, I also post some [headcanons](https://lilolilyr.tumblr.com/post/638847742220828672) on there and am taking prompts!
> 
> **Friendly comments always make me smile :)**


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